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Tag: Network18 Group

  • Cracking Chrome DM-Da Vinci code as legalities take over

    Cracking Chrome DM-Da Vinci code as legalities take over

    MUMBAI:  When business partners — erstwhile or otherwise— part ways acrimoniously, dirty linen gets washed in public. Almost a year after parting ways, Da Vinci Learning (DVL) TV channel, through its Indian JV partner Quintillion Media Pvt. Ltd, has served a breach of contract notice to channel’s distributor Chrome Data and Media Analytics (Chrome DM), which has hit back with a counter legal notice to The Quint.

    DVL, which announced its formal launch in India November 2015, is a 50:50 joint venture in India between Da Vinci Media GmbH and Quintillion Media Pvt. Ltd (The Quint),  a digital venture founded by Ritu Kapur and Raghav Bahl, former founder-promoters of Network18 Group that was bought over by the Mukesh Ambani-controlled Reliance Industries Ltd. in 2014.

    The legally drafted notice from The Quint states that the data solution provider (Chrome DM) under-performed and could not deliver to what was discussed and decided by the two partners. The distribution of the educational channel DVL in India was entrusted to Brickworks Media, a sister concern of Chrome DM that is focused on quantitative and qualitative market research.

    According to information collated, Da Vinci’s Indian operations owes to Chrome DM approximately Rs 15 million (Rs. 1.5 crore) in unpaid bills.

    Chrome DM founder and CEO Pankaj Krishna, a media industry veteran, took to social media to voice his side of the story. In an open letter on Facebook late last week, he said, “Dear Raghav Bahl, you did manage to pleasantly surprise me when I happen to go though some letters you have sent to our registered office…And today u have resorted to some rather immature tactics of sending out unfounded letters and communication, 11 months after parting ways!!”

    Krishna went on to further state: “To rewind, it was the 25th of January, 2016 when you felt that you could usurp the Brickworks’ team efforts and investments towards Da Vinci and take on the balance project yourself and save on some hard earned money. Sadly, you failed and failed till date.”

    According to Krishna, Bahl and his team were initially game to make the payments later, but soon stopped accepting any calls or messages from the Chrome team.

    Indiantelevision.com sent an email to Bahl to get his reactions to Krishna’s FB post. After several attempts, though Bahl did not comment, Da Vinci Media (DVM)’s marketing director Monomita Mukhopadhyay replied to our mail.
    “Mr. Pankaj Krishna’s Facebook post is a reaction to a demand notice sent by Da Vinci Media to his company for breach of contract. There is no logic behind Mr. Krishna’s post; it’s his opinion. They did not deliver (on) to what was discussed and did not perform well. DVM and its lawyers are doing the needful,” Mukhopadhyay explained.

    However, Chrome DM marketing head Harnoor Kanwar told indiantelevision.com that it was The Quint/DVM that decided to part ways without fulfilling their financial obligations.

    “I have attended all the meetings with Raghav Bahl and his team. Our last meeting was on 25 January 2016 when he decided to turn the tables and took charge of the distribution of his channel. We all were simply surprised. Post that, he was very much a part of all my communications regarding the investments. He owes us a few crores (of rupees) but that was ok with us. But now, he has sent us this letter demanding damages. Why has he suddenly awakened after a11-month sleep? We surely are going to take counter measures,” Kanwar counter-punched.

    Chrome DM and Brickworks Media specialises in brand and other market related research, including those pertaining to television sector. Bahl and his wife-promoted Quintillion Media Pvt. Ltd is a digital media company that has a joint venture with Bloomberg for the Bloomberg business news channel in India and also operates a co-branded news website, apart from other independent ventures.

    ALSO READ:

    Da Vinci Learning and The Quint launch India’s 1st Kids HD Educational Channel

    Da Vinci Learning partners with Airtel Digital TV, Siticable and Digicable

  • Network18 ropes in ex Flipkart exec Manish Maheshawari as CEO of Web18

    Network18 ropes in ex Flipkart exec Manish Maheshawari as CEO of Web18

    MUMBAI: The Network18 Group has roped in Manish Maheshawari as the new CEO of Web18. Maheshawari was previously with Indian eCommerce major Flipkart as VP and head of its seller ecosystem. Maheshawari will lead Network18’s digital and e-commerce assets which includes digital portals such as moneycontrol.com, ibnlive.com, in.com, firstpost.com, etc.

    As the CEO of Web18, Maheshawari’s immediate priorities will be  to drive content, monetization, new business, inorganic growth, and product portfolio management.

    Talking about the new appointment, Network18 group chairman Adil Zainulbhai said, “Manish brings with him a good mix of Silicon Valley tech product culture and an understanding of ground realities of India. Both these qualities will be crucial as we take Network18 to the next level of digital transformation. He has a proven track record of taking up projects and achieving a scale of tens of millions, building cross-functional teams that deliver in large setting with an unflinching focus on customer experience.”

    Maheshawari can be credited with growing Flipkart’s marketplace by 10x — from 10,000 sellers in February 2015 to over 100,000 sellers in February 2016.  Prior to that, he co-founded txtWeb and grew it from scratch with over 16 million mobile users in India alone.

     

  • Network18 ropes in ex Flipkart exec Manish Maheshawari as CEO of Web18

    Network18 ropes in ex Flipkart exec Manish Maheshawari as CEO of Web18

    MUMBAI: The Network18 Group has roped in Manish Maheshawari as the new CEO of Web18. Maheshawari was previously with Indian eCommerce major Flipkart as VP and head of its seller ecosystem. Maheshawari will lead Network18’s digital and e-commerce assets which includes digital portals such as moneycontrol.com, ibnlive.com, in.com, firstpost.com, etc.

    As the CEO of Web18, Maheshawari’s immediate priorities will be  to drive content, monetization, new business, inorganic growth, and product portfolio management.

    Talking about the new appointment, Network18 group chairman Adil Zainulbhai said, “Manish brings with him a good mix of Silicon Valley tech product culture and an understanding of ground realities of India. Both these qualities will be crucial as we take Network18 to the next level of digital transformation. He has a proven track record of taking up projects and achieving a scale of tens of millions, building cross-functional teams that deliver in large setting with an unflinching focus on customer experience.”

    Maheshawari can be credited with growing Flipkart’s marketplace by 10x — from 10,000 sellers in February 2015 to over 100,000 sellers in February 2016.  Prior to that, he co-founded txtWeb and grew it from scratch with over 16 million mobile users in India alone.

     

  • Nikhil Wagle quits IBN Lokmat

    Nikhil Wagle quits IBN Lokmat

    MUMBAI: Following his counterparts in the Network18 group, IBN Lokmat editor in chief Nikhil Wagle has also decided to part ways with the company.

     

    Announcing the decision through Twitter, Wagle said, “Just resigned from IBN LOKMAT.  Will continue journalism without fear or favour!”

     

    On his decision, former IBN18 editor in chief Rajdeep Sardesai tweeted, “@waglenikhil salute you for building India’s finest regional language channel.”

     

    Indiantelevision.com was first to report about Wagle considering to move on from the company which is now under the control of Reliance Industries.

     

    His next move is yet unknown.

     

    Wagle has worked with Doordarshan as well as newspaper Aapla Mahanagar and has been with IBN Lokmat since its launch in 2008.

     

    Network18 has seen a spur of resignations right from founder Raghav Bahl relinquishing hold over the company, but staying on as non executive director of Network 18, to group CEO B Saikumar, COO Ajay Chacko, CFO RDS Binni Bawa, IBN18 editor in chief Rajdeep Sardesai, CNN-IBN deputy editor Sagarika Ghose, Web18 CEO Durga Raghunath and several others who within a span of a few weeks, left the company.

  • Network18’s Raghav Bahl’s goodbye email

    Network18’s Raghav Bahl’s goodbye email

    MUMBAI: Even as Reliance Industries and Mukesh Ambani cruise on their path to acquire control of the Network18 group, promoter and founder Raghav Bahl – along with his wife Ritu Kapur – sent out an email  to the entire staff of the group explaining their position and their departure from the enterprise they built up.  

     

    The email is pretty candid and begins with them stating that “yesterday, Ritu and I effectively ended our entrepreneurial leadership of N18 by agreeing to exit our shareholding (although I would be around to ensure a smooth transition).”

    Bahl exudes confidence in Mukesh Ambani and RIL as the potential owners of the Network18 group. “Believe us, the Group is in terrific hands. Mr Ambani is a visionary and truly good human being. And we have no doubt that Network18 would soar into the “cloud” under this dispensation. All of you have very good cause to be excited and optimistic about the future,” he says in the email.

    The husband wife team then go on to thank the thousands of team mates “whose collective tejasvi karma has buoyed N18 to where it is today. Our heartfelt gratitude towards all of them! (We would like to make a special mention of our very own Vandana, who was the first manager-cum-driver-cum-lights”man” of TV18 in the early 90s).” (The reference is to his sister Vandana Mallick who was like the rock of gibraltar for Bahl through his career and who resigned from the group earlier in the day today).

    They end by asking the entire employees of the Network18 group to “wish us well as we embark on our next quest – we are, as usual, utterly positive about the future. God bless you, and God bless Network18.”

  • ETV News to be re-branded as News 18

    ETV News to be re-branded as News 18

    KOLKATA: Re-branding is not new to the world of media; brands across sectors undergo the change on various accounts – to catch the target group’s attention, due to mergers or just to give a facelift.

     

    The latest to join the bandwagon is TV18 Broadcast. Part of Network18 Group, the network has various regional news channels under its umbrella.

     

    Come April, next year, and ETV news channels will be known as News18, as per the agreement between the TV18 Group and the erstwhile owner, Eenadu Group, an ETV insider revealed.

     

    Also, TV18, which has acquired 100 per cent interest in the regional Hindi news channels namely ETV Uttar Pradesh, ETV Madhya Pradesh, ETV Rajasthan and ETV Bihar will be known as News 18 UP, News 18 MP, News 18 Rajasthan and News 18 Bihar, respectively as per the agreement.

     

    ETV Network’s head when contacted on the same, confirmed the development. “Till March 2015, TV18 group would use the old name and logo. But from April 2015, the logo and name of the channels will change,” he says.

     

    However, Viacom18 executive vice-president Ravish Kumar refused to comment on the same.

     

    Incubators Group CMD Kaushlendra Singh Sengar highlights that one of the key strengths of ETV channels’ is their ability to attract and retain loyal viewers. And TV18 is confident of taking these regional channels to even greater heights with its strategic inputs, improved content/programming strategies and operational synergies. “If the ETV channels are re-branded as News18, it will be a good move since TV18 has a bouquet of leading television channels under its umbrella.”

     

    Recently TV18 completed its acquisition of ETV Bangla.

     

    Sengar adds, “As part of the deal for acquisition of ETV channels, Network18 and TV18 have also entered in to a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Infotel Broadband Services (Infotel), a subsidiary of Reliance Industries. Under the MoU the companies and their associates will have the right to distribute the content of all the media and web properties of Network18.” he says.

     

    The tie-up with Infotel will enable Network18 and TV18 to build on their first-mover advantage for the distribution of their content through the latest broadband technology.

     

    “The key advantage for millions of viewers will be the ability to enjoy an uninterrupted, high quality, 24-hour viewership, even while they are on the move,” concludes Sengar.

  • LEADER TALK with Ronnie Screwvala & Brian Lara

    LEADER TALK with Ronnie Screwvala & Brian Lara

    MUMBAI: After a successful first season last year, CNN-IBN is back with its second season of Leader Talk, in association with Gulf Oil. The talk show features some of the world’s most well-known corporate leaders and sports legends who come and share their ideas, thoughts and experiences on leadership and talk about their success mantras.

    On the third episode this season, Rajdeep Sardesai gets up close and personal with Ronnie Screwvala, Founder-CEO, UTV Group and Brian Lara, former cricketer and captain of West Indies. On the show, the two leaders talk about the significance of partnership in leadership and how important are man management skills for a leader. Screwvala emphasizes the importance of identifying the right talent, while Lara says leading by example is one of the keys to good leadership.

    Don’t miss this episode of “Leader Talk – Season 2” on Saturday, February 15, 2014 at 11:30 AM followed by a repeat telecast on the same day at 10:30 PM and on Sunday, February 16, 2014   at 10:00 AM and 9:30 PM, only on CNN-IBN.

    For more information log onto: www.ibnlive.com/leadertalk Also, follw us on: www.facebook.com/leadertalk

    ABOUT TV18: The Network18 Group is a media and entertainment company with interests in television, internet, films, e-commerce, magazines, mobile content and allied businesses. Through its subsidiary ‘TV18 Broadcast Ltd.’ [BSE: 532800, NSE: TV18BRDCST], the group operates news channels – CNBC-TV18, CNBC Awaaz, CNBC-TV18 Prime HD, CNN-IBN, IBN7 and IBN-Lokmat (a Marathi regional news channel in partnership with the Lokmat group). TV18 also operates a joint venture with Viacom, called Viacom18, which houses a portfolio of popular entertainment channels – Colors, Colors HD,MTV, SONIC, Comedy Central, VH1, Nick. Nick Jr. and Nick Teen – and Viacom18 Motion Pictures, the group’s filmed entertainment business. TV18 has also forayed into the Indian factual entertainment space through A+E Networks | TV18 (a joint venture between A+E Networks and TV18 Broadcast) and operates HistoryTV18. TV18 and Viacom18 have also formed a strategic joint venture called IndiaCast, a multi-platform ‘content asset monetization’ entity mandated to drive domestic and international channels distribution, placement services and content syndication for the bouquet of channels from TV18, Viacom18 and other broadcasters. For more information, please log on to www.network18online.com For further information contact:

    Althea Brett
    MSLGROUP
    84478 38739

     

  • Infomedia’s Chip’s journos get marching orders

    Infomedia’s Chip’s journos get marching orders

    MUMBAI: And so the pink slips continue at the Network18 group. Clear signs that the company is trying to bring efficiencies into what was once a bloated organisation. This time the layoffs have happened at  Infomedia 18, the group’s publishing arm, which has laid off journos at  Chip magazine today. The journos were given marching orders but were given three months severance pay in order to allow them to tide over until they get another job.

    Employees of chip magazine have finally heard what they have been expecting from a long time

     

    “The mood has been depressing since very long and people had started looking out months ago,” says a former employee. Currently, five people were running Chip and all of them were asked to leave. Other magazines such as T3 India, AV Max, could be next in line for layoffs.  Two magazines which have not been affected by the turmoil apparently are  – Better Photography and Overdrive – which reportedly are generating good revenues while the fate of others is in hanging on the ledge, says an industry source.

     

    Infomedia 18 had previously shut down its printing press as well as other assets such as Yellow Pages to cut down on its expenses.
    Calls to Network18 group CEO Sai Kumar and IBN Broadcast COO Ajay Chacko went unheeded.

  • Network18 Media on a turnaround trail

    Network18 Media on a turnaround trail

    MUMBAI: The Network18 group is doing very well, thank you. The group’s media holding company Network18 Media & Investments has reported results which show that the management led by managing director Raghav Bahl and group CEO B. Saikumar is slowly but surely driving it back to profits.

    The company has reported revenues of Rs 679.5 crore in Q4 FY 2013 as against Rs 697.4 crore in Q3 FY 2013. Revenues for the full financial year ending 31 March 2013 are at Rs 2400.8 crore as against Rs 1943.8 crore – a jump of 23.51 per cent. This was driven primarily by an almost doubling in revenues from its digital content and ecommerce vertical to Rs 400.9 crore (from Rs 233.8 crore) for the whole year. Its television and motion picture vertical too leaped ahead 36.62 per cent in revenues to Rs 1725.5 crore (Rs 1262.9 crore).

    The company shaved off its operating expenses for Q4 2013 to Rs 666.8 crore from Rs 686.8 crore in Q3 FY 2013. For the whole year ending 31 March 2013, its operating expenses rose to Rs 2440.1 crore (Rs 2239.9 crore).

    Operating profits for the group during Q4 2013 were at Rs 12.8 crore against Rs 10.6 crore during Q3 FY 2013 keeping its operating margin at 2 per cent. During Q4 FY 2013, there was a drop in the company’s television and motion picture unit’s operating profits to Rs 34.6 crore (from Rs 48.1 crore). The operating losses for its digital content and e-commerce vertical fell to Rs 24.3 crore from Rs 31.3 crore in this period. The operating margins for its television and motion picture business in Q4 FY 2013 decreased to seven per cent (nine per cent in Q3 FY 2013).

    For the whole year, there has been a drastic reduction in its operating losses to Rs 39.2 crore (Rs 296 crore). Its television and motion picture business which reported operating profits of Rs 107.1 crore (Rs 1.6 c rore) and allied businesses (publishing), which saw a decrease in losses to Rs 46.9 crore from Rs 118.8 crore, helped staunch the red ink. Its digital and e-commerce business continued to lose money operationally with an operating loss of Rs 125.4 crore (Rs 126.3 crore). The operating margins for its TV and motion pictures have improved from 0 to 6 per cent for the full year.

    Network18’s consolidated debt as on 31 March 2013 stood at Rs 211 crore, down 90 per cent from Rs 2130 crore at the end of FY12.

    Interest costs for Q4 FY 2013 were reduced to Rs 38.9 crore (Rs 53.1 crore in Q3 FY 2013). For the whole year it managed to keep its interest cost under control at Rs 272 crore (Rs 270.7 crore in FY 2012).
    It managed to report a net profit of Rs 50 lakh in Q4 FY 2013 (Rs 6.8 crore in Q3 Fy 2013). For the full year, it managed to improve its bottomline with a reduction in losses to Rs 105.5 crore (Rs 392.7 crore).

    During the year, Network18 profitably sold its entire stake in Newswire18, divested its Yellow Pages and Askme businesses and diluted its majority stake in Book My Show. These transactions, in line with the strategy to exit non-core businesses, added Rs 180 crore to the annual profit and raised Rs 235 crore for the Network18 Group.

    Says Bahl: “We are delighted to inform our investors and stakeholders that at both Network18 and TV18, we have successfully deleveraged our balance sheets and have delivered strong operating performances. Network18s and TV18s net debt now stands at less than one-fifth of the peak levels and our interest payments have come down sharply. We are confident that we are now entering a sustained value creation phase in our journey as we continue to strengthen our existing operations and consolidate our regional acquisition.”

    Adds B. Saikumar: “We are extremely pleased that our digital and broadcast operations have turned in a sustained and healthy operating performance during the year despite softness in the advertising environment. Our e-commerce businesses have turned in another stellar year and our digital content businesses continue to grow steadily. We are now on a solid net distribution income trajectory and while our flagship channels like CNBC TV18/Awaaz, Colors and CNN IBN continue to perform admirably, we are also enthused by the performance of recent launches and the motion pictures business. Inspite of near term challenges given the macro-economic headwinds, we are hopeful of delivering a strong year ahead.”

  • ‘The news terminal biz is dominated by global players and we got a good price for NewsWire18’ : Network18 head of investments Sarbvir Singh

    ‘The news terminal biz is dominated by global players and we got a good price for NewsWire18’ : Network18 head of investments Sarbvir Singh

    Founder-promoter Raghav Bahl has started shaving Network18 Group‘s non-core businesses to stay focussed on the company‘s core strengths of television, digital assets and e-commerce.

     

    As part of the haircut, Bahl has found a buyer for NewsWire18, the home-grown real-time financial news and information provider, which competes in India with global giants like Bloomberg and Reuters.

     

    Private equity firm Samara Capital is buying Network18’s 77.50 per cent stake in NewsWire18 for Rs 900 million and has drawn up plans to expand the company‘s business, including an ambitious plan to spread out to other countries.

     

    For Network18, it is a profitable monetisation of its stake in the company it helped grow and stabilise since 2006. NewsWire made an operational profit of Rs 70 million on revenue of Rs 445 million for the fiscal ended 31 March 2012.

     

    Network18 has so far raised Rs 2 billion from stake sales in non-core businesses this year and expects to raise another Rs 3 billion over the next 12 months.

     

    It is also in discussions with new as well as existing investors (SAIF Partners and GS Shopping) to invest in its teleshopping and e-commerce arm HomeShop18 as it needs capital to grow. It intends to continue to hold a sizeable
    stake in HomeShop18, though not a controlling one.

     

    The other companies which Network18 will ultimately exit are travel portal yatra.com and Infomedia’s printing business.

     

    In an interview with Indiantelevision.com‘s Sibabrata Das, Network18 head of investments Sarbvir Singh talks about the Group‘s focus on profitability, cautious approach towards big-budgeted television channel launches, and strong digital and e-commerce assets.

     

    Excerpts:

    Q. Why is Network18 exiting from NewsWiire18 when it had turned into an operating profitable company?
    The news terminal business is dominated by global players (like Reuters and Bloomberg) and doesn’t fit into our scheme of things. We are getting a good price (Rs 900 million) for selling our stake (77.5 per cent) in NewsWire18.

     

    Q. Why didn’t the deal with Reuters consummate? Was it because it made sense for Reuters to have Network18 as an equity partner so that NewsWire18 would continue to benefit from the television news channels of the Group?
    I can’t comment on who the other interested parties were, but that (total exit) wasn’t an issue at all. We obviously sold to private equity firm Samara Capital because we got the best deal from them.

     

    Q. Wasn’t there a synergistic value as Network18 Group holds interests in television news channels?
    The news terminal business does not fall into our core focus areas; it also does not fit into our core business strength. It is a standalone business by itself and requires specific focus.

     

    We have decided to get out of our non core businesses. Our focus will be on three core areas: television, digital and e-commerce.

     

    Network18 is no longer the same company as it was in 2007. Our television business has grown exponentially, be it in the areas of news or entertainment. We have strong web properties and our e-commerce play is large.

     

    Q. Does this mean that the Group will launch more television channels through TV18?
    We may launch smaller channels, but there is no rush as such. We have too much on our plate. In addition to the existing channels, we have made a big acquisition (Rs 21 billion for acquiring assets of ETV Network) and will have to integrate operations.

     

    ‘Our focus will be on three core areas: TV, digital and e-commerce. Network18 is no longer the same company as it was in 2007. Our TV has grown exponentially. We have strong web properties and our e-commerce play is large‘
     

    Q. Is there a plan to revive the launch of a Hindi movie channel?
    We are not sure whether we would need a Hindi movie channel at this stage. The Hindi general entertainment channels have become like movie channels on weekends.

     

    Our focus will be on profitability and getting the distribution equation right. Distribution is a very important part of the evolution process and we have to set it right. We are unlikely to do big channel launches at this stage.

     

    Q. Sources say there is plan to launch a Gujarati business news channel along the lines of CNBC TV18. How far has this progressed?
    In media companies a lot takes shape at the planning stage. Everybody looks at opportunities. But as I said earlier, we are in no tearing hurry to do anything.

     

    Q. What are the other non-core businesses that Network18 is looking to sell?
    We are looking at getting about Rs 5 billion from our asset sales. We have already done Rs 2 billion this year and expect to generate another Rs 3 billion over the next 12 months.

     

    Q. Network18 has sold partial stake in bookmyshow.com. Will it exit from this as well?
    We will hold on to our remaining stake in bookmyshow.com and build that business. We want to be in digital commerce. We see ourselves as being one of the largest players in e-commerce through our presence in online and television through HomeShop18.

     

    Q. Which means the stake in HomeShop18 will be retained?
    We are looking at a similar model like bookmyshow.com. We may not remain as a shareholder with controlling stake but have a sizeable equity in HomeShop18.

    ‘We may launch smaller channels, but there is no rush as such. We are not sure whether we would need a Hindi movie channel at this stage. We have too much on our plate. Our focus will be on profitability and getting the distribution equation right‘
     

    Q. Isn’t there a plan to raise $50 million as pre-IPO funding for HomeShop18?
    We are looking at an external investor as the teleshopping and e-commerce firm needs capital to grow. We are in discussion with existing (SAIF Partners and GS Shopping) and new investors as well. There are many who come and talk to us. In the long term, we may look at raising capital through an initial public offering (IPO).

     

    Q. But isn’t the mandate given to an investment bank to scout for an investor in HomeShop18?
    I can’t comment on that.

     

    Q. Will Network18 exit from yatra.com before or after the IPO?
    We have expressed our intent to offload stake from yatra.com. But it is difficult to say whether it will be a pre-IPO exit or after it. We will see how it goes and what is the market situation then.

     

    Q. How many asset sales are we looking at for getting to the target of Rs 3 billion in the next one year?
    There will be a couple of companies which will fetch us Rs 400-500 million from each transaction. And then there is yatra.com.

     

    Q. Will Infomedia’s printing business form a part of this?
    Yes, it is on the block. But it won’t be a major part of this.

     

    Q. What about your sports marketing company Sport18?
    We are not bidding aggressively for the rights. We have certain rights (Professional Golf Tour of India, India Cyclothon, Hyderabad 10K and the Chandigarh Marathon) and this fits into our TV news business.